Transport For The North is at the beginning of a very long journey

Forget about Brexit transport is the biggest issue for businesses in the region according to the Corporate North report.

All this week TheBusinessDesk.com has been running a series of articles focussing on the report put together by global law firm CMS.

The report questioned 150 business leaders and gained insight on a range of issues from exporting to the future of manufacturing.

And it will come as no surprise that transport is the number one priority for the majority of business leaders.

John Cridland, chair of Transport For The North, gave his own views on the issue which has long been a source of frustration.

John Cridland

Although the former boss of the CBI admits that there are plenty of understandable frustration around the subject he is convinced there is a long-term solution.

He said: “There is a pent up frustration which wants to release pent up potential across the region.

“This potential demands an enhanced transport system for the North of England. This is a long-term mission though.

“Over the next 30 years we will transform our road, rail, sea and air connections. Through our transport strategy, we are now translating our economic vision into a working methodology.

“We are reviewing the investment decisions that will need to be made to better connect our prime economic assets.”

He added: “A core part of this will be how we ensure that the corridors of economic activity can be effectively invested which will drive economic growth.

“The role of transport is to better connect people and businesses and to facilitate the movement of goods and labour.

“These are the issues which affect everybody. We must be very clear, for many firms, families and communities across the North there were 30 painful years of de-industrialisation.

“We lost a lot of factories, employment opportunities, income and identity for families and their wider communities.

“What has survived and developed through this period and against that backdrop is truly world class.”

He added: “This is about how Ordsall Chord in Manchester can help to better connect a city and indeed the wider region.

“It is about how the greater numbers and varieties of job opportunities can become viable due to a shorter, faster commute and how our clusters of economic activity can become closer and better connected.

“The North acting as one and thinking at scale is important, though we are quite early on the journey.

“If we go back ten years there weren’t the LEPS and we didn’t have Metro Mayors. Our Transport for the North Board is the beginning of this.”

The full report can be found here.